HANOI (Reuters) - Bird flu has killed a woman teacher in
northern Vietnam, the fourth death from the H5N1 virus this
year, state-run Voice of Vietnam radio reported on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old woman died on Monday at a Hanoi hospital
after falling sick as she ate chicken in her home province of
Phu Tho, the radio quoted the Health Ministry as saying.

In communist-run Vietnam, official announcements are often
made in state-run media.

Tests performed at a Vietnamese laboratory confirmed the
woman had the H5N1 virus, the report said. The death has not
been confirmed by the World Health Organisation (See Factbox).

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The woman's death is the fourth out of five people infected
by bird flu so far this year in Vietnam after an extended cold
spell in northern provinces. The virus is usually most active
in colder weather.

A 7-year-old child from the northern province of Hai Duong
who has been confirmed as infected by the H5N1 virus remained
under treatment at a pediatric hospital in Hanoi, doctors said.

Excluding the death on Monday, bird flu has killed 232
people among the 366 known cases globally, among them 50 deaths
in Vietnam, the WHO said.